2018 Rural LISC Cohesive Economic Development Initiative awards more than $234,000 to 18 partners across the country to support rural economic development

Rural LISC is pleased to announce that more than $234,000 in grants has been approved for 18 community-based organizations serving rural communities in 16 states. Generated from the Rural LISC Cohesive Economic Development Initiative, the grants will support outstanding projects and programs that strive to improve residents’ engagement and pride in their communities as well as create and retain jobs through the use of the arts and cultural programs.

“Over the past three years, Rural LISC’s Cohesive Economic Development grants have demonstrated how place-based strategies around arts and culture can help rural communities come alive – not just by adding that special spark of the human spirit that the arts uniquely convey, but by generating new economic vitality:  creating businesses, promoting job growth and revitalizing downtowns,” said Suzanne Anarde, LISC Vice President and Rural LISC Director.  “We look forward to furthering this important work with a new round of funding, helping our partners integrate artistic and cultural development into their economic development strategies.”

Grants were awarded to:

• Cabrillo Economic Development Corp.: Ventura, CA
• Communities Unlimited: Fayetteville, AR
• Fayette County Community Action Agency: Uniontown, PA
• Garrett County Community Action Committee: Oakland, MD
• Greater Greenville Housing & Revitalization Association: Greenville, MS
• GROW South Dakota: Sisseton, SD
• Highland Community Builders: Elkins, WV
• Hilltown Community Development Corp.: Chesterfield, MA
• Kentucky Highlands Investment Corp.: London, KY
• Mississippi Action for Community Education (MACE): Greenville, MS
• Northern Cambria Community Development Corp.: Northern Cambria, PA
• Pathfinder Services: Huntington, IN
• Prairieland Council CDC: Havana, IL
• RUPCO, Inc.: Kingston, NY
• Santee Lynches CDC: Sumter, SC
• Rural Neighborhoods: Florida City, FL
• Southern Mutual Help Association: New Iberia, LA
• Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership: Slayton, MN

In New Iberia, LA, Southern Mutual Help Association's effort to ‘Bring DaBerry to Teche Ridge’ represents the next stage of their work to bridge the social and cultural divide between the historic West End of New Iberia and the new Teche Ridge neighborhood.

The 2018 grant recipients met one or more of the following criteria as a part of Rural LISC’s comprehensive community revitalization mission, which includes:

• Formation of arts-related economic clusters, with activities that support the local economy by strengthening a community’s arts scene:  introducing eye-catching storefronts, mixed-use retail and exhibition spaces, new cultural activities and intriguing installations, which attract more artists, tourists, cultural innovators and entrepreneurs to a community – stimulating investment and business activity, creating jobs and a robust economy.
• Increasing a community’s sense of identity and pride by engaging residents in cultural programming such as festivals, musical performances and arts education, often in reclaimed public spaces.
• Enhancing a community with murals, sculptures and investments in artist housing, galleries and theaters.

Some of the projects funded include:

• An art studio and gallery where artists with and without disabilities can work alongside each other to develop their talent and show and sell their art to the public.  The Huntington Center for the Arts, created by Pathfinder Services in rural northeastern Indiana, will be a multi-use development consisting of 35 market rate apartments and 15,000 square feet of commercial space housing the Huntington Center for the Arts and Huntington University’s entrepreneur program. 
• Mississippi Action for Community Education (MACE) in Greenville, MS, is planning to build the Delta Blues & Heritage Festival Park on an 80 acre parcel of Delta flatland.  This park will not only host the Annual Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival, it will play host to the Delta Blues Museum as well as community events, family reunions, after school programs, and a two-week summer camp for area youth.  The Blues Festival is the oldest of its kind in the world, and funnels a significant economic investment into the Greenville regional economy, with more than 25,000 people in attendance, representing a $3 million plus impact. 
• As part of an economic development strategy of supporting self-employed artists, and building collaborations which enhance artists’ reach to new consumers markets, Hilltown CDC in western Massachusetts has partnered with the Hilltown Arts Alliance on an annual Open Studio Tour bringing visitors into this geographically spread out rural area to enjoy a weekend of art studio visits set amongst the great natural beauty of the area.
• “Reclaiming Voices” is a collaborative artistic community endeavor led by Our Town Theatre and the Garrett County Community Action Committee in rural western Maryland.  The project aims to expand the capacity of the arts locally with the creation of a theatrical performing arts production that will transcend mere entertainment value by creating awareness and healing for those impacted by cancer.  This performing arts project will both contribute to community cultural development as well as act as an economic driver through the formation of an arts-related economic cluster.
• Southern Mutual Help Association in New Iberia, LA, began hosting the quarterly Teche Ridge Farmers and Artisans Market in 2016 in an effort to increase foot traffic to the new development at Teche Ridge, introducing the wider community to its "Traditional Neighborhood Development" lifestyle, while expanding opportunities for local artisans to display and sell their work.  This year, Southern Mutual is using the Farmers and Artisans Market to bring a partner, Envision daBerry and DaBerry Fresh Market, located in New Iberia's historic West End neighborhood, “across the bayou” to Teche Ridge.  This project gives Envision DaBerry and DaBerry Fresh Market a presence outside the West End, contributing to their effort to battle negative perceptions of the West End community, and continuing to provide opportunities for local artisans to market their businesses.
• Prairieland Council CDC in Havana, IL, has created the Downtown Havana Business Corridor Plan which aims to implement creative placemaking through redeveloping the downtown.  A focus of the plan will be on physical transformation, business and job creation, and integration of arts and culture into downtown Havana.  Economic development will be bolstered by the creation of new business and employment opportunities. The community arts scene will expand by the heightened cultural atmosphere of the downtown transformation, and artists will have a direct role in the creation of new storefronts and murals.
• Santee Lynches is partnering with the South Carolina Arts Commission to initiate “Making a living, Making a life,” a creative placemaking pilot being implemented at the Cedar Creek Community, a 40-unit, low-income housing complex in Marion, SC, with the goal of modeling it at other housing complexes throughout its 15-county service region.  The project will help the 98 residents of the complex to foster understanding of place and the local economy, engage youth and adults through a planning process, and create new outlets for creative expression within Cedar Creek. It will incorporate a financial literacy/local economy element that leads participants to build new connections with their local community, its assets and resources, and will include a resident-led survey to map cultural and economic assets within the larger community, helping to create jobs and earning opportunities in the arts.   
• Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation in Ventura, CA, has created Danza Azteca, a youth development and leadership program designed for children between the ages of 5 and 18 to help address the need for better cultural awareness, instill pride in Latino youth, and create greater insight into the beauty and richness of Mexican culture. Participants convene weekly as a “dance circle” to learn traditional Mesoamerican arts and discuss Mesoamerican traditions and their meaning. The program is being implemented at Villa Victoria, a low-income and farmworker property in an isolated section of Oxnard, where, by supporting Danza Azteca with funding, Cabrillo will be sustaining the local artists and dancers who would otherwise typically volunteer their time and pay for their own regalia, art supplies and musical instruments.  Additionally, the leaders of the program, all Ventura County residents, will receive stipends for each class that they teach, earning as much as $10,000 over the grant period. 

These projects provide excellent examples of the creative uses of Rural LISC’s Cohesive Economic Development  Initiative grant awards, encouraging economic development at the local level through arts and culture.